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PROCEEDINGS 



GENERAL SOCIETY 



THE CINCINNATI. 



WITH THE 



ORIGINAL INSTITUTION OF THE ORDER, 



AND FAC SIMILE OF 



THE SIGNATURES OF THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF THE 
STATE SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



PUBLISHED BY DIRECTION OP THE STATE SOCIETY OF 
PENNSYLVAJJIA. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

C. SHERMAN, PRINTER. 

1847. 



C. SHERMAN, 



PROCEEDINGS 



GENERAL SOCIETY 



THE CINCINNATI. 



WITH THE 



ORIGINAL INSTITUTION OF THE ORDER, 



AND FiC SIMILE OF 

THE SIGNATURES OF THE OEIGINAL MEMBERS OF THE 
STATE SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

PUBLISHED BY DIRECTION OF THE STATE SOCIETY OF 
PENNSYLVANIA. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

C. SHERMAN, PRINTER. 

1847. 



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PROCEEDINGS 

OF THE 

GENERAL SOCIETY 

or 

THE CINCINNATI. 



CANTONMENT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY, ON HUDSON'S 
RIVER, 10th MAY, 1783. 

Proposals for establishing a society, upon princi- 
ples therein mentioned, whose members shall be offi- 
cers of the American army, having been communicated 
to the several, regiments of the respective lines, they 
appointed an officer from each, who, in conjunction 
with the general officers, should take the same into 
consideration, at their meeting this day, at which the 
honourable Major-General Baron de Steuben, the senior 
officer present, was pleased to preside. 

The proposals being read, fully considered, para- 
graph by paragjaph, and the amendments agreed to, 
Major-General Knox, Brigadier-General Hand, 



Brigadier-General Huntingdon, and Captain Shaw 
were chosen to revise the same, and prepare a copy to 
be laid before this assembly at their next meeting, to 
be holden at Major-General Baron de Steuben's quar- 
ters, on Tuesday, the 13th instant. 

Tuesday, 13th May, 1783. 

The representatives of the American army being 
assembled, agreeably to adjournment, the plan for 
establishing a society, whereof the officers of the 
American army are to be members, is accepted, and 
is as follows, viz. 



THE INSTITUTION 



SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI. 



" It having pleased the Supreme Governor of the 
Universe, in the disposition of human affairs, to cause 
the separation of the colonies of North America from 
the domination of Great Britain, and after a bloody 
conflict of eight years, to establish them free, sove- 
reign and independent states, connected by alliances 
founded on reciprocal advantage with some of the 
great princes and po vipers of the earth. 

" To perpetuate therefore, as well the remembrance 
of this great event, as the mutual friendships which 
have been formed under the pressure of common 
danger, and in many instances cemented by the blood 
of the parties, the officers of the American army do, 
hereby in the most solemn manner associate, constitute 



and combine themselves into one society of friends, 
to endure as long as they shall endure or any of their 
eldest male posterity, and, in failure thereof, the colla- 
teral branches, who may be judged worthy of becoming 
its supporters and members. 

" The officers of the American army having gene- 
rally been taken from the citizens of America, possess 
high veneration for the character of that illustrious 
Roman, Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus, and being re- 
solved to follow his example by returning to their 
citizenship, think they may with propriety denominate 
themselves, the Society of the Cincinnati. 

" The following principles shall be immutable, and 
form the basis of the Society of the Cincinnati. 

*' An incessant attention to preserve inviolate those 
exalted rights and liberties of human nature for which 
they have fought and bled, and without which the high 
rank of a rational being is a curse instead of a blessing. 

" An unalterable determination to promote and che- 



rish between the respective states, that union and na- 
tional honour so essentially necessary to their happi- 
ness, and the future dignity of the American empire. 

"To render permanent the cordial affection sub- 
sisting among the officers; this spirit will dictate 
brotherly kindness in all things, and particularly extend 
to the most substantia] acts of beneficence, according to 
the ability of the society, towards those officers and 
their families, who unfortunately may be under the 
necessity of receiving it. 

" The general society will, for the sake of frequent 
communications, be divided into state societies, and 
these again into such districts as shall be directed by 
the state societies. 

" The societies of the districts to meet as often as 
shall be agreed upon by the state societies, those of 
the state on the fourth day of July annually, or oftener 
if they find it expedient ; and the general society on 
the first Monday in May ; annually, so long as they shall 
deem it necessary, and afterwards at least once in 



every three years. At each meeting the principles of 
the institution will be fully considered, and the best 
measures to promote them, adopted. 

"The state societies will consist of all the members 
residing in each state respectively ; and any member 
removing from one state to another, is to be considered, 
in all respects, as belonging to the society of the state in 
which he shall actually reside. 

" The state societies to have a president, vice-presi- 
dent, secretary, treasurer, and assistant-treasurer, to be 
chosen annually, by a majority of votes, at the state 
meeting. 

" Each state meeting shall write annually, or oftener, 
if necessary, a circular letter to the other state societies, 
noting whatever they may think worthy of observation 
respecting the good of the society or the general union 
of the states, and giving information of the officers 
chosen for the current year : copies of these letters 
shall be regularly transmitted to the secretary-general 
of the society, who will record them in a book to be 
assigned for that purpose. 



•' The state society will regulate every thing respect- 
ing itself, and the societies of its districts, consistent 
with the general maxims of the Cincinnati; judge of the 
qualifications of the members who may be proposed, 
and expel any member, who by a conduct inconsistent 
with a gentleman, and a man of honour, or by an op- 
position to the interests of the community in general, 
or the society in particular, may render himself un- 
worthy to continue a member. 

*' In order to form funds which may be respectable 
and assist the unfortunate, each officer shall deliver to 
the treasurer of the state society one month's pay, 
which shall remain for ever to the use of the state 
society, the interest only of which, if necessary, to be 
appropriated to the relief of the unfortunate. 

"Donations may be made by persons not of the 
society, and by members of the society, for the express 
purpose of forming permanent funds for the use of the 
state society, and the interest of these donations ap- 
propriated in the same manner as that of the month's 
pay. 

2 



10 



" Monies, at the pleasure of each member, may 
be subscribed in the societies of the districts, or the 
state societies, for the relief of the unfortunate members, 
or the widows and orphans, to be appropriated by the 
state society only. 

" The meeting of the general society shall consist of 
its officers, and a representation from each state society 
in number not exceeding five, whose expenses shall be 
borne by their respective state societies. 

" In the general meeting, the president, vice-presi- 
dent, secretary, assistant-secretary, treasurer and assis- 
tant-treasurer generals shall be chosen to serve until 
the next meeting. 

" The circular letters which have been "written by the 
respective state societies to each other, and their parti- 
cular laws, shall be read and considered, and all mea- 
sures concerted which may conduce to the general in- 
tention of the society. 

" It is probable that some persons may make dona- 



11 



tions to the general society, for the purpose of establish- 
ing funds for the further comfort of the unfortunate; in 
which case such donations must be placed in the 
hands of the treasurer-general, the interest only of 
which to be disposed of, if necessary, by the general 
meeting. 

"All the. officers of the American army, as well 
those who have resigned with honour after three years' 
service in the capacity of officers, or who have been 
deranged by the resolutions of Congress upon the se- 
veral reforms of the army, as those who shall have 
continued to the end of the war, have the right to be- 
come parties to this institution; provided that they 
subscribe one month's pay, and sign their names to the 
general rules in their respective state societies; those 
who are present with the army immediately; and others 
within six months after the army shall be disbanded, 
extraordinary cases excepted : the rank, time of ser- 
vice, resolution of Congress by which any have been 
deranged, and place of residence, must be added to 
each name— and as a testimony of affection to the me- 
mory and the offspring of such officers as have died in 



12 



the service, their eldest male branches shall have the 
same right of becoming members as the children of 
the actual members of the society. 

" Those officers who are foreigners, not resident in 
any of the states, will have their names enrolled by the 
secretary-general, and are to be considered as members 
in the societies of any of the states in which they may 
happen to be. 

" And as there are, and will at all times be, men in 
the respective states, eminent for their abilities and pa- 
triotism, whose views may be directed to the same 
laudable objects with those of the Cincinnati, it shall 
be a rule to admit such characters as honorary mem- 
bers of the society, for their own lives only : Provided 
always, that the number of honorary members in each 
state, does not exceed a ratio of one to four of the 
officers or their descendants. 

" Each state society shall obtain a list of its members, 
and at the first annual meeting, the state secretary shall 
have engrossed on parchment, two copies of the insti- 



13 



tution of the society, which every member present shall 
sign ; and the secretary shall endeavour to procure the 
signature of every absent member ; one of these lists 
to be transmitted to the secretary-general to be kept in 
the archives of the society, and the other to remain in 
the hands of the state secretary. From the state-lists, 
the secretary-general must make out, at the first gene- 
ral meeting, a complete list of the whole society, with 
a copy of which he will furnish each state secretary. 

m 

"The society shall have an Order by which its 
members shall be known and distinguished, which shall 
be a medal of gold, of a proper size to receive the 
emblems, and suspended by a deep blue ribbon two 
inches wide, edged with white, descriptive of the union 
of America and France, 

" The principal figure 

CINCINNATUS, 

Three senators presenting him with a sword and other 

military ensigns — on a field in the back ground, 

his wife standing at the door of their cottage — near it 

a plough and instruments of husbandry. 



14 



Round the whole, 

Omnia reliquit servare Rempublicam. 

On the reverse, 

Sun rising — a city with open gates, and vessels 

entering the port — Fame crowning 

CiNCiNNATUS with a wreath inscribed 

VIRTUTIS PRiEMIUM. 

Below, 

Hands joined, supporting a 

heart ; with the motto, 

ESTO PERPETUA. 

Round the whole, 

SOCIETAS CINCINNATORUM INSTITUTA. 

A. D. 1783." 

The society, deeply impressed with a sense of the 
generous assistance this country has received from 
France, and desirous of perpetuating the friendships 
which have been formed, and so happily subsisted be- 
tween the officers of the allied forces, in the prosecution 
of the war ; direct that the president-general transmit, 
as soon as may be, to each of the characters hereafter 
named, a medal containing the order of the society, viz. 



15 



His Excellency the Chevalier de la Luzerne, 
Minister Plenipotentiary ; 

His Excellency the Sieur Gerard, late Minister 
Plenipotentiary ; 

Their Excellencies — the Count d'Estaing, the 
Count de Grasse, the Count de Barras, the Cheva- 
lier DE Touches, Admirals and Commanders in the 
Navy; 

His Excellency the Count de Rochambeau Com- 
mander-in-Chief; 

And the Generals and Colonels of his army, and ac- 
quaint them, that " the society does itself the honour to 
consider them members." 

Resolved, That a copy of the foregoing institution be 
given to the senior officer of each state line, and that 
the officers of the respective state lines sign their names 
to the same in manner and form followino-, viz 



16 



" We the subscribers, officers of the American army, 
do hereby voluntarily become parties to the foregoing 
institution, and do bind ourselves to observe and be 
governed by the principles therein contained — for the 
performance vi'hereof we do solemnly pledge to each 
other our sacred honour. 

" Done in the Cantonment on Hudson's River, in the 
year 1783." 



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